The humble panini
has been given a makeover by Parisian sandwich company, Le Pressing.

Continuing
the French capital’s recent trend for high-quality street food (notably burger
trucks like Le Camion Qui Fume and Cantine California), Le Pressing is now shaking up the simple toasted sandwich,
bringing their food cart of gourmet paninis to brick and mortar locations around
Paris.

Their tour
around the city, which runs until 24 March, will take over the kitchens of contemporary,
casual and reputed restaurants such as modern Table
Ronde
(14and 15 February); trendy Chéri Bibi (rue André del Sarte, 75018;
1-42-54-88-96) (23 and 24 February); and the healthy, vegetarian Bob’s Juice Bar (23 and 24 March).

The team behind
Le Pressing felt that the panini – a staple of the European street food
repertoire – had lost its way over the last couple of years, particularly in
France, and wanted to inject some innovation and quality back into this breaded
snack.

So with the
help of star baker Gontran
Cherrier, who provides them with artisanal bread, and various chefs who
lend their names to each recipe, Le Pressing has concocted a concise menu of eight
made-to-order sweet and savoury paninis. In the place of gelatinous cheese and
greasy ham are fresh, high-quality ingredients such as 12-month Comté cheese from
the eastern Franche-Comté region and Italian ham with truffles.

Try such creations
as the succulent Benjamin (named after celebrity chef Benjamin Darnaud of Wanderlust restaurant
fame) which combines aubergine dip with fig, basil and Fourme d’Ambert blue
cheese on a grain bread flavoured with curry powder, or the sweet Gontran –
named after baker Gontran Cherrier
– which incorporates bananas with hazelnut and praline spread and
lime juice on brioche bread. And during
the tour, the resident chef at each of the restaurants will create their own
recipe to add to the menu.

The full
programme for the tour can be found on their website; or follow their movements on Facebook and Twitter.